Take This Chance
by Miss Pontmercy
Summary: Special circumstances allow Dan to redo a day, and spend his time in Natalie's life for 24 hours. How does this experience change his opinion of his daughter? Takes place during Nat's drug stint, so naturally contains some heavy drug use. REVIEW PLEASE!
1. Dan

**In the spirit of all these "A Christmas Carol"-ish fics, I also wanted to write a fic about one of the characters being taken around by someone and shown all the mess ups in their life. Only, this has nothing to do with Christmas.**

**"Bah, humbug!" me all you want.**

* * *

**Monday Morning**

"Morning, Natalie," Dan greeted his daughter with barely a look. "Need any help with your lunch?"

"No, dad. I'm good," she grunted, sounding unhappy. Well, it was six-thirty in the morning; no one could blame her.

"Are you going early to practice piano?"

She looked up at her dad, balking. "Um, duh. I do that, like, every day."

He looked away. Of course he knew that. "I knew that. Don't be so snippy. I'll see you after school." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Right."

"Bye, sweetheart."

"Whatever, dad."

He didn't know what had gotten into her lately. Honestly, it was like someone had taken over her mind and replaced his sweet, high-achieving Natalie with someone dark and moody. He couldn't help but wonder if all this time with that Henry kid had something to do with it.

He drove to work and put in a few hours on a house he was designing before leaving at the now-customary early hour so he could see Diana at the hospital. Well, he couldn't exactly see her; she was getting her ECT treatments. When she wasn't in treatment, she was resting and in secure conditions. Still, it made him feel better to be there than to be home or at work. Once there, however, he lost track of time and didn't look at his watch until after six o'clock.

_Damn, _he thought as he hurried to his car. _Natalie._

But when he returned home, Natalie seemed unruffled by his tardiness. She just rolled her eyes.

"I already had dinner. I heated something up from the freezer," she informed him.

"Oh. Do you want anything else?"

"I would like you to be _home_ once in awhile," she muttered, but he didn't hear her, preoccupied by trying to find something to eat in the freezer. With all this commotion around him, he'd forgotten to go grocery shopping.

"What's that?" he asked absent-mindedly.

"Nothing."

Later that night, he retired to bed, exhausted. Alone, he didn't have to keep up this facade. Sobs began hiccuping through his body, small and quiet, but all the more painful because of it.

_Please, God,_ he thought. _When will this end? What's wrong with Natalie? What more can I do? I'm doing the best I can... I think. I'm trying everything for Di, but something's happening with Natalie and I can't do anything about it. Help me understand her._

He heard nothing back, felt nothing. Sighing in pain, inside and out, he rolled over and turned out the light. He was asleep within minutes.

Funny how fate works. If he'd waited one more minute before falling asleep, he would have heard Natalie slip out of her room and go downstairs, slipping out of the house and driving away.

But alas, he was asleep, and missed everything.


	2. Monday Morning Again

**Monday Morning**

Dan yawned and awoke, looked over at the clock. He jumped as he saw that it was already 6:15- he was late getting up. Jumping out of bed, he ran over to the closet and hurriedly dressed before running downstairs.

"Sorry, Nat-"

He stopped in his tracks, and could have sworn his jaw dropped to the floor. Someone was already standing in the kitchen with Natalie.

Himself.

_I must be dreaming still,_ he thought. He pinched himself- no, he still felt the pain. What the hell was going on?

His senses dawned on him seconds afterwards- he needed to get out of the kitchen. If either his other self or Natalie saw him, they would surely think something was gravely wrong. Well, something obviously was. But he needed to figure it out himself.

Quickly as he could, he tried to run out of the room. Too quickly, in fact: he saw what was about to happen a second before it did; he lost his footing and fell forward, bracing himself to crash against the table. He couldn't help it- he cried out-

But the crash never came. He looked up: he was laying under the table on the ground. But he hadn't felt himself hit anything. He chanced a glance at Natalie and his other self- they noticed nothing.

_What? _he wondered, before trying something else. He reached out to touch the legs of the chair. His hand went right through.

"No, dad. I'm good," he heard Natalie say.

"Are you going early to practice piano?" His own voice came next... this sounded strangely familiar.

"Um, duh. I do that, like, every day."

"I knew that. Don't be so snippy. I'll see you after school." Dan watched as other Dan leaned over and kissing Nat on the cheek.

"Right."

"Bye, sweetheart."

"Whatever, dad."

_Oh my..._ he thought, understanding. It was Monday morning. Again. Only this time, he was a phantom. He remembered asking for a chance to understand Natalie... could this be it?

Without waiting for any more time to go by, he ran after Natalie and- with only a moment to spare before she started driving, jumped right through the door and into the back seat of the car with her.

He watched his daughter fiddle with the radio for a few minutes before giving up. The ride was uneventful- seemed like just a regular ride to school.

When they arrived, he followed her as she went to drop some of her books off at her locker (he still tried to hide whenever she looked in his direction- he couldn't fathom the fact of being invisible). But she did not make her way to the piano rooms. Instead she just sat by her locker, reading a book.

Slowly, figures began filling the hallway as kids trickled in for school. But why wasn't Natalie practicing?

"Natalie!" a voice called, and Dan turned round. _Ugh,_ he thought. _It's that Henry character._

Natalie looked up, saw who it was, and promptly shut her book and stuffed it in her bag, and then stood up and turned around without another word.

_Good girl,_ thought Dan. _You know who's the right kind of company._

But this twat didn't give up. He just walked right up to Natalie and grabbed her arm, getting her attention.

"Natalie- what is _up_ with you lately?"

"Henry- just leave me alone-"

"You haven't talked to me for, like, a week-"

"That's because you're being weird. Do you think I want you hanging around me, ruining all the fun? I'm going through enough without you making it more difficult, Henry," she spat out.

_What was she talking about?_

"Well, excuse me if I don't want to sit and watch you kill yourself at those damned clubs every night-"

"I'm not going to _kill myself-_ stop being melodramatic-"

"You don't even know what you're on half the time, Nat! You very well could end up dead. I just want to help-"

"Well, you're not! My mom's in the hospital getting _electrocuted _every single day. And you think I care what the hell I put in my mouth?"

Henry just shook his head, looking angry.

Dan didn't want to hear any more of this- Natalie was doing drugs? Ok, he had suspected as such... but it sounded like she was taking Di's old pills. How had he missed _that_? What if she really did kill herself?

He couldn't even think about it. What if, in trying to keep Diana alive, he lost Natalie?

"At least let me come next time," Henry said.

"Not if you're going to rag on me the whole time," she warned.

He shook his head. "Just so you can have a ride home," he said. "How've you been getting home lately?"

"I've been driving."

Dan felt like he was going to throw up.

"Natalie!" he yelled out involuntarily, before remembering she couldn't hear him.

"You've been- when you're like _that?" _Henry stammered out. "Did you go last night?"

"You know what? I'm sick of you doing this. Like it's not all _your_fault I'm like this anyway!" she practically screamed out. She didn't even look embarrassed as people around her stared. Henry took a step closer and lowered his voice.

"Natalie- I _never_ wanted you to end up like this," he said. "Please just let me come with you- I won't say anything, I promise! I just want to make sure you're safe."

She shook her head. "I'm sick of people _acting_like they're taking care of me. First my dad, now you- I don't need this. Just leave me alone!" she said, grabbed her bookbag, turned, and left. Dan was about to follow when he heard Henry say something to himself.

"Don't forget- you used to ask me to come with you. So it's not like I don't know where you'll be tonight... passed out or something..." Both Henry and Dan shuddered.

This was already too much, and school hadn't even started yet.

But it was too good of an opportunity to let slip by. He ran after Natalie.

* * *

He found Natalie in her science class, and the school day passed relatively uneventfully. Well, uneventfully if you didn't count Dan finding out that Natalie had failed almost all her assignments and tests from the previous week, and had neglected to do any of her homework. He was more confused than ever- this was not like her at all.

What could it be? Di had been sick for years. Why would it just start affecting her now?

In english, Natalie had an assignment to write down whatever she was feeling. The teacher promised not to read it, but that they should just get their feelings out. Dan couldn't help it- she would never know he read it over her shoulder.

_Invisible. That's me; the invisible girl. No one ever sees me these days, except the occasional confused teacher who asks me if something's wrong because I've never failed a test before. _

_Oh, yeah. And Henry. He notices me. Well, a hell of a lot of good that does. He can't actually help me. I used to ask him to come with me to get high and stuff, and for awhile he did... Until I didn't want to do pot anymore, and I wanted to sneak into the clubs. OK. I'll never say this to him, but I get it. I know what I'm doing is supposedly more dangerous than pot, and that the clubs in the city aren't exactly the safest places... But you know what, I don't care anymore. I can't take this shit my life's become, and this is the only way I can deal with it! I know I shouldn't be doing it... does he really think I want to be? But there's no other way for me to feel ok about myself..._

_And what kills me is dad doesn't even know. He's so preoccupied with mom's treatment that he doesn't notice a thing. Or maybe he does, and he just doesn't care._

Dan couldn't stand to read more. He looked away for a minute, before losing his nerve and continuing to read.

_So for some reason I know what I'm doing wrong. I just can't stop._

_Henry says he loves me. But well, so does my dad. The funny thing is, I know rationally that they do, but every time Henry tries to 'help' all he's doing is making me unhappy. And my dad doesn't try to help at all. And God knows mom can't handle anything but taking care of herself. But I can understand that- yeah, it sucks to have a mom who constantly wants to see someone else when she looks at you, but at least she has an excuse. Dad isn't mentally ill, and I still feel like I can't measure up. Because whenever I fuck something up, I'm still not as fucked up as mom. And she's all he cares about._

_And the real reason I don't want Henry coming with me isn't because he tells me to stop- well, that's part of it. It's because I know he's right and yet I still can't listen to him. But I know that he'll come find me and bring me home just like he's done every time I've texted him all throughout last week. _

_This is getting ridiculus. When will dad notice? Is that what I need to stop?_

_But what I'm most scared about is that even though I know it's wrong, I'll never be able to stop._

_What if this is a new habit that I'm forming? What if I'm... hooked?_

_But for right now, I can't think about what's really going on. I can't think about mom, I can't think about how much I'm fucking up. I just need to get through the day, because if I look back, I won't make it._

* * *

Dan wished, now more than ever, that he could talk to Natalie. She was a different girl than she'd ever been before- one who scared him. And he knew that she hated him for it, and blamed him. And he couldn't help agreeing. If he'd spent more time with her, maybe she wouldn't have ended up like this.

He shuddered when she ate her lunch in piano practice room at school, obviously just to be alone. She didn't touch a key the whole time. After school, she avoided them entirely.

People he recognized as being her friends from middle school and years past just walked by her without saying hello- but he didn't think that was recent. He'd been trying to deny it, but he knew that she didn't feel comfortable having people come over. Tha had to have sobotaged a few friendships. The only person who'd gone out of their way to talk to her all day had been Henry. Dan still didn't know if he liked him; he remembered what Natalie had yelled at him this morning: "Like it's not all _your_ fault I'm like this anyway!" What had he done to lead her towards this wretched life she was leading?

He couldn't admit it, but he also thought it was easier to blame Henry than to blame himself.

After school, Dan went home with Natalie and watched her take out her homework, only to ignore it. He watched her ignore her buzzing phone, the caller always the same. She took some food out of the freezer and heated it up- he realized when she'd said she made her own dinner that that might have been the only thing she'd been truthful about all day.

He relived himself coming home, their brief and cold encounter. Then he followed her up to her room.

It looked the same as it had last time he'd looked- on the surface. But he watched as Natalie moved pillows and books and opened drawers, all revealing hiding places. Stashes.

As it grew later and later, he watched as she took a pill, and then another, and then another, until she finally stuffed some extras- so many colorful little beads that they looked like M & Ms- into her purse and left the room.

He realized his other self had only just retired when Natalie slipped out of the house.

How could he have been so stupid? He ran after her, jumping in the car, wanting to yell at her and bring her back inside, but knowing her couldn't.

At first he thought he could never trust her again- how could she betray his trust this way?

But then he realized that- although that was true- he deserved every bit of it.

All the while they were speeding down the highway.


	3. Monday Night

The car was not moving steadily as the drugs worked their way through Natalie's system. Dan couldn't help the tears that leaked out of his eyes as she parked and stumbled out of the car. She stopped for a second before shutting the door, grabbed a water bottle, and swallowed another pill without looking at it.

He reached out to her as she stumbled on the curb, almost falling, but luckily catching herself before she hit the pavement. She righted herself and gave the bouncer a fake but real-looking ID, which he barely looked at before letting her pass through.

He followed her through the club as she danced and looked... lost. Her face clearly expressed a look of fear and yearning. Maybe it was because he knew her so well, but to Dan, it was obvious Natalie was looking for something. Happiness? Attention? Whatever it was, she wasn't a true druggie: she wasn't chasing the high, she was using it to find something else.

Whenever she looked like she was growing drowsy or the high was wearing off, she would pop another pill from her purse. Dan was counting them down, hoping for her supply to end. However, each time he thought she couldn't possibly have more, she retrieved another.

Worse though were the people at the clubs... Natalie seemed to be the youngest one there. Why wasn't she scared to be around all these people she didn't know? There were college students- obviously not the studious ones, if they were frequenting clubs on Monday nights- who were giving her surprised looks. He could tell what they were thinking: How did she get out alone without her parents realizing?

He didn't have an answer for them. He nevertheless followed her as she made her way around the dance floor, hoping to be able to help. It killed him to know he couldn't do anything. He needed to know how this story would end: would she have a happy ending, or would she end in a place like this? Loud and anonymous, where no one knew how special she was? Where she would just be another messed-up teenager without a story...?

She danced a little. There was a group of young students there- guys in their twenties, it looked like- who came over and danced around her. Dan felt like he was boiling in anger. One reached out and touched Natalie's arm, pulling her closer. She stepped towards him-_ what was she doing?_ They were dancing together- the drunk boys and Natalie, who was obviously much, much further gone than they were. The dancing was obscene. Upon closer inspection, Dan could see in Nat's eyes that she was scared.

And there was nothing he could do.

One of the guys- the same one that had pulled her close- reached for her and kissed her, his hands stroking her, groping her. She stumbled back, wiping her mouth on her arm as though to get the taste of him out of her mouth.

"No-" she muttered, almost tripping over her own feet as she tried to get away.

"Come on- I'm just trying to have some fun-" he reached for her again, and she took another step back.

"Lemme alone-" she said, pushing him away and turning, attempting to run.

"Fine! You're no fun anyway!" he called after her as his friends laughed- at her stumbling run or how she rejected him, Dan wasn't sure. He was just glad they hadn't followed.

He took off after Natalie, whose running had taken something out of her. She was leaning against a wall near a group of couches, her hand against her forehead and her eyes closed. After a solid minute, she opened her eyes again, tried to take a step, and stumbled so horribly that her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Her face was white, her eyes darting and red. She tried to help herself up, but her arms just shook. There was no one near to help, though Dan doubted anyone here would.

With a last effort, she reached for her phone. She found Henry's name in the contact list, and texted a random-looking arrangement of letters- Dan wondered if she was using that Internet lingo, or if she was too far gone to even type anything meaningful at all- and sent it. She tried crawling over to a couch, but it was too much for her. She collapsed into a heap on the ground, sobbing dryly and breathing fast and hard.

Dan was fully in tears now, and they were falling down his face in streams so that he could barely see. He reached out, knowing full well he could not touch her, and tried to lay his hand upon her hair. He stopped just short of where he would have made contact, trying to convince himself that he really was there, and could help her.

"Natalie," he whispered. "I love you so, _so _much." His sobs began to break through his words. "How could you do this to yourself?"

He didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse that no one came to help her. She could have been taken to the hospital, or someone Natalie categorized as a "sketch" could find her and do some damage that could possibly be more serious. For forty minutes he sat waiting with her, watching as people looked over at her, and walked right by.

"Natalie- Natalie!" Dan looked up in surprise to see Henry running towards Natalie, still stationary on the ground. So this was what he'd meant, before, at school. The boy dropped to his knees next to her, and shook her gently. "Nat- Nat wake up."

But she didn't movie.

"Natalie?" he said again, a note of fear touching his voice. "Oh, crap..."

He turned her over onto her back and touched her wrists, her neck, her chest- looking for her pulse, Dan gathered. He breathed a sigh of relief the same time Henry did.

After a few more minutes of trying to wake her up, Henry stood and ran over to the bar.

"How old are you, kid? Who let you in here?" the bartender asked, something Dan had been wondering himself. Henry just shook off the question.

"Can I have some water and a towel, please?" He handed the man a couple crumpled dollars, and was given what he needed.

After several more attempts, this time with a cool, wet cloth to her forehead, Natalie finally stirred.

"Natalie... oh thank God..." Henry said.

She opened her eyes, looking dazed. "Henry?" she asked.

"Yes- can you hear me?"

She nodded, and then tried to sit up. Henry put a retraining hand on her shoulder.

"Nat- what did you take? How much?"

She put a hand to her head, and was quiet for a long time. Then her shoulders began shaking as she started to cry. She hid her face in her hands and curled up against the wall. It was possibly the most heartbreaking thing Dan had ever seen.

Henry didn't ask her again. He just reached for her arm and helped her up. As she stumbled, he put an arm around her waist as she struggled to stay upright. They made their way out of the club, and Henry looked anguished at Natalie.

"How did you get here?" she asked.

He bit his lip. "Well, I figured you drove, so I had to get a ride so you could get your car home..."

She looked at him in anger, but it was obvious she wasn't up to saying anything else.

"Well, my sister's home so she drove... not my mom, don't worry. But we're gonna take your car home." They finished walking to her car, and she leaned up against it. He took out his cellphone and called someone- his sister, Dan presumed.

"I got her... Yes. I don't know if she's ok... Stop it. Look, you don't get what she's going through right now... No, I'm not going to do that. I have to go now, she's right here. I'll talk to you when I get home. We're at her car now. Thanks for the ride." He hung up, and Natalie just looked at him angrily.

"You told her everything, didn't you?"

He crossed his arms, looking angry. "No. I didn't tell her anything. But when you ask for a ride because you have to pick your girlfriend up in the city in the middle of the night, it's pretty obvious she's got a problem. I didn't have to tell her anything, but she still guessed a lot of it."

Natalie looked away.

"Gimme your keys," Henry said.

She fumbled with her purse for a minute before he got frustrated and took it from her, found her keys, and then handed the purse back. He took her arm again and led her to the passengers seat, opened the door, and helped her inside. She didn't say another word.

* * *

**Please review this!**


	4. The Ride Home

Dan jumped into the back of the car, and watched as Henry drove most of the way in silence. Dan's mind was reliving the horror of this day, and how much he'd learned about his daughter, the girl he thought he knew so well. He realized he knew nothing at all. And this kid, this Henry, knew pretty much everything, and was doing a better job of keeping her on track than her own father.

Well, he thanked God for this chance. As soon as everything went back to normal, he vowed to become the father he should have been all along. _This_ Natalie, this lost, broken girl, was just a product of his parenting.

"I don't know if you can remember," Henry said, breaking the silence. "But did anything happen tonight? At the club, I mean, before you passed out?"

Natalie looked concentrated for a minute. "I remember going in... and then I remember this guy- or maybe it was more than one- talking to me and dancing with me. I'm not sure what happened after that. I think I tried to run away-"

"What do you mean you_ tried_ to run away?" Henry asked, anger and fear once again in his voice. "Did he come after you?"

"I can't remember..." she shook her head, looking like it took all of her energy to remember this. "No. No, he didn't. I got away, and then I can't remember anything... and then you were there."

Henry was quiet again, thoughtful.

"You can't keep doing this, Nat," Henry said as they entered their hometown. "I can't keep... rescuing you like this."

She looked over at him, angry and upset. "What d'you mean? Are you just going to leave me there or something? Well, then, _fine-_"

"No. I meant... one of these days, if you keep this up... I'm going to be too late. At first it all seemed fun- this kind of wild thing you were doing- but it's gone too far. You're doing dangerous stuff, Nat. You're at these crazy places... it's just insane. It's messed up. Nat, when I came tonight, you didn't wake up for like fifteen minutes. I seriously thought you were gone. Dead." His voice was cold and cutting with truth.

Natalie shuddered, perhaps finally realizing how close she'd come.

Dan, who knew it the whole time, was still struck with fear by Henry's words.

"I don't know why you're doing this to yourself," Henry said, echoing Dan's thoughts. "You were... perfect-"

"No, I wasn't!" she cried, tears in her eyes and in her voice. "I was always just a fuck-up of a daughter. I tried being perfect, but nothing I ever did was right. Everything my stupid dead brother did was, though. I'm _not_ perfect, and I never was. And now," she said, more tears falling from her eyes, "I never will be. Not when I'm like this."

_Nothing she ever did was right?_ Dan couldn't believe she'd even think that. He was angry with her now- how could she not see how special she was? How could she throw this all away? How... selfish of her to ignore how much her family loved her, and believe that no one cared.

"Well, maybe that's ok," Henry said gently. "Not what you're like now, I mean. But it's ok not being perfect. When I met you, I seriously couldn't get over how cool you were. How smart and funny you were. When I found out about your family, I just admired you more for making it through every day. But this... this is nuts. More nuts than anything you tell me about your mom. And you say it's because you can't be _perfect_? Seriously, Natalie... you don't have to be perfect. No one expects you to be. I don't _want_ you to be."

They'd reached Dan and Natalie's home. Henry pulled the car into the driveway.

"Henry, how can you say that? My mom loves my brother because he's _perfect._ My dad loves my mom because she's so fucked up- more fucked up than I can ever be, even now, even when I'm trying to mess up! And dad knows that he gets to take care of her every day, and that's why he loves her so much. He likes being needed or something. And he's ignoring the fact that _I_ need him! I don't know what to do. I'm always stuck in the middle..."

_That's not why I love your mother,_ he retorted in his mind. _It's something I have to deal with because I love her... and you... you don't see yourself right at all._

Henry cut the engine and put his arm around her, pulling her close. Natalie leaned into him, and pressed her tearful face against him. Dan looked away, on principal.

"I know your parents love you," he said, and Dan was glad one of his opinions was finally being represented. "I can tell when your dad talks to you, especially. And don't blame your mom-"

"Henry, you don't know-"

"I don't have to!" Henry looked down at her, but she didn't meet his eyes. Frustration crossed his face. "Fine. Your parents don't love you, and you're a failure. Is that better?"

"Stop it-"

"Only if you'll get it through your head that you _don't_ need to do this! And you need to realize it fast, because if you don't, you're going to kill yourself, and nobody, not even you, wants that. But... even if you can't believe your parents love you right now, can you believe that I do?"

She looked away. He sighed.

"Fine. I really wish you could see that."

"Maybe you just shouldn't help me anymore. I'm just hopeless-"

What she was saying sounded so much like Diana, on days Diana felt like giving up. But she never had... was Natalie really ready to give up, already? _You're stronger than that!_ he wanted to yell.

"Do you think I'd help you if I thought you were hopeless?" Henry asked her, sounding hurt.

"Yes. Because you always have to be the good guy, don't you?" she retorted.

"No! I'm not doing this to be nice, or good, or whatever the fuck you think. I'm doing it because I know who you used to be, and I want her back. And I think you do, too."

Dan couldn't say anything to help, but he hoped with all his might that Natalie was listening. He couldn't believe he'd never said these things to her when he had the chance.

Natalie didn't answer, but Dan knew from experience that this was a good thing. It meant she was listening, otherwise she'd offer a nasty retort.

"So, will I see you tomorrow at school?" Henry asked.

She nodded.

"Ok then." He cut the engine and got out of the car, helping Natalie out. Sitting for almost an hour had given her some of her strength back, but he still tried to help her as she walked. She pulled away.

"Hey, I'm like way less fucked-up than before, ok? I don't need your help."

"Fine... whatever you say. Um, Nat?" Henry asked as they neared the doorstep.

"What?"

"I know that's your car, but can I use it to get home... I kind of didn't think about that. I don't have a ride home... I'll drive you to school tomorrow and everything..."

Natalie looked thoughtful for a moment, and then spoke. "Sure. I mean, you can't exactly walk home."

Thanks. I know you leave early and everything, so I'll be on time. Oh! Do you want to practice before school-"

"No."

"Oh," Henry said, taken aback. "OK then."

Dan felt hurt again- if she still wasn't playing, then she wasn't exactly better. But he couldn't expect her to recover in one night.

"So I'll see you tomorrow then," he said. Dan watched as Henry took a step closer and looked like he was going to kiss her, as Natalie turned away and slipped a key into the lock.

"Right. See you," she said.

"Bye," Henry said, hurt on his face and in his voice.

Dan followed Natalie inside, relieved as she went straight up to her bedroom. It was four in the morning. There was no more noise coming from her room, and the light was off within five minutes.

He looked out the window, and saw that Henry was still parked in the driveway. Curious, Dan went back outside and looked through the car windows.

Henry was sitting in the car, resting his head against the steering wheel, looking defeated. His shoulders were shaking.

Dan wanted to reach out to the boy- he knew all too well what it was like to be in his position. Trying to help and feeling like you were trying to talk to a brick wall. Knowing that you loved someone more than they ever would in return. And, most importantly, knowing you loved someone more than they loved themselves.

Dan's opinions of him had changed abruptly in just this one night. He was now looking at someone who he respected and identified with. He knew that, amidst all this craziness, or (to say it like they had) "fucked-up crap" he was trying his best to make it all ok. For Natalie. And Dan couldn't be angry with him for that.

As Dan watched, Henry looked up, wiped the tears from his face, and started the car. With one last look at the dark house, Henry drove away.

Dan went back inside, still mulling everything from the night over, as he got into bed next to his other self, trying to ignore how weird the whole affair was. But, in the end, it didn't matter how he'd come to get this experience; he had, and he knew this knowledge meant all the difference. Not in his future, but in Natalie's.

Maybe now, she'd have a fighting chance.


	5. The Nights Following

When Dan awoke the next morning, he was alone. There was no other Dan lurking in his bed. He dressed cautiously, wondering whether the spell had broken, and went downstairs. Natalie was sitting at the kitchen table, looking absolutely exhausted. He now knew why. She was reading the back of a cereal box.

"Hey, Nat," he tried, wondering if she could hear him.

"Morning, Dad," she said, not looking up. Oh well. He would take it. He knew better than to offer her a ride to school; instead he wordlessly began making her lunch.

"You want to go out to dinner tonight?" he asked, thinking it might be a good idea. Natalie looked up a little in surprise.

"Oh, um... well, I have homework," she said. He almost laughed in her face but instead he just looked at her. "But, well... if you make it home in time, then..."

He smiled. "You name the place. I'll be home right after school." He handed her the lunch. "I promise."

"Right," she said, and he didn't miss the eye roll.

This was going to be more difficult than he expected.

* * *

They had dinner that night, and he didn't know what to do when they got home. Their conversation had been pleasant but distant- he had nothing to say that didn't involve her mother, which he knew she didn't want to hear about, or her drug problem, which he thought best to bring up later. He didn't know how to tell her that he knew she was on drugs; after all, he couldn't exactly explain what had happened the day before. "Natalie, I sort of repeated a day as an invisible, undetectable phantom...?" No, that wouldn't do.

He didn't want her to go out and party any more, but he knew at the same time that whatever he did to try and prevent it, she would find a way of getting out of the house.

That night, he tried to stay up all night. He would stop her if he heard her leave her room. Though, as fate would have it again, he fell asleep around eleven thirty. He woke again at one, and ran to Nat's room. She was gone. He tried calling her, but he knew that she wouldn't answer. Surprisingly enough, he heard her phone ring from her bedroom.

She left it at home? Why?

A small voice in his head wondered if she didn't want Henry finding her. Well, he was the only one who could. Dan, for once, didn't care about Natalie's feelings.

He cursed himself for not paying more attention when he'd been in the car the night before, because he knew he had no hope of finding the club again. And who knows if she'd even gone to the same one? Henry would probably have a better chance in finding her.

He opened her phone, feeling invasive. He'd always trusted her- he'd never gone through her room looking for drugs, or read her emails, or anything he'd once deemed overprotective. He wondered if, invasive as those methods were, they would have made a difference.

He opened her phone, and saw a new message from Henry.

"You ok?" he read. "I didn't see you at lunch. I thought you would sit with me today... Are you staying home tonight? Please say yes."

Dan shook his head, but then closed the message, found Henry's number, and began a new text message. Remembering that this would be sent from Natalie's number, he needed to make it sound legitimate.

"Come pick me up," he wrote, and then sent it.

A minute later, he got a message back. "WTF?! Where are you???"

"I don't know," he wrote back, hating himself for not knowing where his daughter was. "At a club... just come."

"I'm leaving now and finding you... I can't believe you're doing this again. This is fucking messed up."

_My feelings exactly, _Dan thought, though he might have used more appropriate language.

Dan breathed a sigh of relief. Even if he couldn't find her, he felt relief knowing she'd be home soon. And it was still somewhat early. On a whim, he deleted the recent text messages from her phone, hoping Henry wouldn't bring them up in conversation, and she wouldn't know he'd done that.

About an hour and a half later, he was waiting in the living room when she came home. She saw him there, and swore loudly.

"Now, Nat, I want to talk to you-"

"No, just leave me alone-"

She didn't let him get a word in, but he also didn't let her leave. They fought for hours... it was the most terrible fight they'd ever had, between the two of them. They'd had worse fights, but always about Diana. He realized that everything had always been about Diana- maybe that had been the problem in the first place. He screamed to Natalie about how he knew she was doing drugs, and how she was a fool for doing so. She at first denied it, and then just shut down, yelling for him to shut up whenever he said anything. She didn't admit anything, and made it clear she wasn't going to talk to him at all that night. He just couldn't get through to her. Eventually she ran upstairs, crying, and he sat defeated on the couch. He tried his hardest to be a good father- what more could he do?

* * *

The next night, he stayed in the living room, just waiting for her to come sneak out. But this time, she didn't come downstairs. Around midnight, he checked her room, wondering if she'd snuck out a window or something. But no; he found her asleep in bed.

He smiled. She looked so... young in her sleep. He remembered her as a tiny baby, a little toddler, a young girl, an awkward adolescent... she looked the same in her sleep. Maybe he was getting through to her.

The next morning, she awoke in a somewhat good mood. Well, that wasn't exactly surprising, considering she'd probably slept more the night before than she had in a long time.

"Hey Nat?" he asked, desperate to find ways to make her feel better.

"What?"

"You wanna invite Henry over tomorrow night? For dinner or something?"

"No," she answered right away.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm kind of not speaking to him right now," she said tartly.

"Oh." He was taken aback. "Is this... recent?"

She shrugged, and he dropped it.

* * *

Though he tried his best for the next few days, he knew that some nights she still snuck out. She always made it home safely, and had since brought her phone with her each time. Dan knew he was a coward for not calling her out on any of these nighttime escapades- he knew what she was doing; why couldn't he say anything?

He didn't know if she continued texting Henry, or if he simply came each night and found her anyway. Dan had to admit he was surprised when Natalie had said they weren't speaking- or rather, that she wasn't speaking to him. But without much information, he made an educated guess on the situation. He gathered that she couldn't face him in the morning knowing that he knew what she'd done the night before. His day and night spent tagging along (for that was as best he could describe it- the whole episode was too confusing to even attempt to understand) had given him enough information to know that Natalie knew what she was doing was wrong, and was ashamed of it. However, she just couldn't stop. He had to admire the kid's patience, though. How could he go without sleep all these nights and manage to come and drive her home? How did he find the motivation to continue helping her?

Well, Dan could understand that. He'd been through it himself, if not with the same exact situation. Diana probably required the same amount of devotion and patience. He just couldn't imagine going through all this as a seventeen year old. Yet Dan still had the feeling that Henry could handle this better than he could- that he was _supposed_ to handle this and help Natalie, just like he himself was supposed to help Diana. Did that make him a very bad father, to leave all this responsibility on just a kid? He couldn't handle his own daughter, and he was making Henry do it... Again, he was just a kid. Henry had his own problems to worry about, his own life to keep track of. How could Dan be so selfish? Should _he_ be helping Natalie? Truth be told, Natalie probably accepted Henry's help more easily. She knew she wouldn't get in any trouble by asking Henry for help. But Dan knew that, at this point, if Natalie needed help, he'd do anything to help her, no questions asked, no punishment included, as long as she was trying to get better.

However, any of these reasons for her going to Henry instead of him didn't excuse his non-attentive behavior. _He _was her father, not Henry. He was supposed to protect her, not Henry. He tried to tell himself that he didn't want to reprimand her too harshly because he knew that she would stop trusting him as soon as he resorted to that, but he knew that was just an excuse. She didn't trust him anyway.

Still, he didn't know what more he could do. If he grounded Natalie or found some more secure way of keeping her home, he knew she would just find another way or sneaking out or rebelling. Still, he remembered that when they had their fight, she'd stayed in the next night. Could the answer really just be paying the slightest bit of attention to her? Even fighting?

* * *

One night, he was sitting in the living room at around eleven, knowing she would come downstairs soon. When she did, he looked up at her, hurt in his eyes.

"I, um... need something to eat," she covered badly, looking nervous. He wasn't in the mood to fight anymore. He couldn't scream anything else, couldn't say any more hurtful words.

"I love you, Natalie," he called, and she popped back into the room.

"What?"

"I said I love you. I do," he said, hoping she'd understand. She looked like she was trying not to smile.

"OK."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

"'Night, Dad."

That night, she didn't come down again.

* * *

**This chapter was kind of confusing, I know, but I didn't want Natalie's problem to just vanish because her dad suddenly understood, you know? It would take time either way. I hope Dan's struggle came across, and that he didn't seem to weak in anyone's eyes.**

**Please, please, _please_ review this.**


	6. Struggling

The next day, Diana came home. Dan had to admit that shook things up quite a bit.

Her memory was gone. Everything from the past twenty-some years... gone.

She remembered him, but that was only because she knew him in college, which she could still remember.

She didn't remember Natalie. Dan cringed when she asked, "And who is this?" Natalie's worst fear, realized.

He couldn't spend his time with Natalie anymore; he had to help Diana. There was nothing he could do to change that- though he knew Natalie wanted him to help her over Diana, he knew he could only handle so much. He tried his best on getting through the day, but couldn't stretch himself too far. It was all her could do to try and help Diana remember everything. Well, everything except...

But he wouldn't think about that. Diana was goign to be fine. Natalie was going to be fine. It was gonna be great.

On the plus side, now that her mom was home and so distraught, Natalie seemed to sense that they needed her home. She didn't sneak out anymore. She stayed out late sometimes- prompting more arguments between her and Dan, arguments that Diana neither understood nor approved of- but was always back by midnight. An improvement for sure.

And Henry kept stopping by. He never stayed long, Dan noticed, but long enough to talk to Natalie. He usually just went upstairs to her room, and was back down within ten minutes, seeing himself out.

_I hope they work things out,_ he thought to himself. _He's a good kid._

But for now, life was hard. Frightening and an uphill climb just to get through the day. He would wake up, find out what kind of day Di was having (did she remember things today? Was she willing to try, or would she get frustrated and give up?), say goodbye to Natalie, go to work, come home, work with Di with pictures, drive her to therapy, make dinner for Natalie, watch to make sure she didn't try and sneak out...

It took a lot out of him. Why couldn't he just be a normal guy for one day, and just get up, make breakfast for his kids, and go to work? Dinner would be on the table when he got home, and they'd all laugh and tell each other about their day.

Well, he knew that. Because he didn't have 'kids,' he had one kid, and that was the whole problem. His wife wasn't reliable about making dinner, and that was the very least of his problems. His daughter was struggling even more than he was, or so he gathered. So his little fantasy of an easy life was probably the most far-fetched dream he'd ever had.

After a couple of weeks of this, though, Diana seemed to be getting better. She remembered most things, but not all (and that was a good thing). But with Natalie, he was never sure.

One Friday night, Henry stopped by, again for only ten minutes. Diana let him in, and Dan wasn't paying much attention. But this time, after he left, Natalie wandered downstairs.

"Hey Dad?" she asked, looking at the floor. Dan put the book he was reading down right away, and gave her his full attention, hoping that whatever she had to tell him was a good thing.

"Yes, Nat?"

"Can I have some money?"

_Oh, no... _"Why?"

"To buy a dress." Dan raised his eyebrows in question, and she explained. "Henry kind of asked me to go to a dance tomorrow, and I don't really have any money, but I need a dress-"

"Where's the dance?" he asked, but his mood had already gone up exponentially.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "It's at _school_. Like a student council thing."

"Done," Dan said. "I suppose you're going shopping tomorrow morning?"

She nodded, and he got out his wallet, handing her about what she'd need for a dress.

"Did he just ask you to go tonight?" Dan wondered. "It's kind of last minute."

"Err... no. He's sort of been asking me for like over a month, and I only just said yes." She shifted back and forth on her feet, looking nervous. "Anyway it's not a big deal or anything, just something to do, you know."

"That sounds like a great idea," Dan said, smiling at her sincerely. _Best thing I've heard about in weeks, coming from you, _he thought. "Have fun, Nat."

She went upstairs again, and Dan kept smiling to himself. Maybe things really were going to work themselves out.

* * *

The next afternoon, Natalie came home, refusing to show him the dress she'd bought ("No, leave me alone- stop being embarrassing-") and going straight upstairs with it. Well, one couldn't ask for too many improvements in just one night, could you? One step at a time.

He was just settling into a chair when Diana came home from therapy, which she'd just taken to driving herself to.

"Dan," she said, hanging up her coat and walking towards him. "We really need to talk."

"What about?" I asked absentmindedly.

"Our son."

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter, but I thought it best to end it there. Please tell me what you think!**


	7. Only Time Will Tell

**Two Months Later**

The worst night of his life came and went. He relived those memories every day, and he knew he would for the rest of his life... That fight, the broken music box, Diana leaving, and... that _feeling._ The feeling when he realized that he'd never, never addressed Gabe's death. Never said goodbye. The wound was torn open again, the grief suffocated him, strangled him, and it almost pulled him under. He'd lost so much- his child, his wife, that part of his life was over.

And then Natalie had come home. She was safe. She wasn't high. She was... perfect. _I still have all this, _he thought.

They could make it through together.

* * *

He couldn't ever tell anyone what had happened to him that night- not the fateful night when Diana left, but the night when he'd seen inside Natalie's life. From then on he'd given all of his energy to being the kind of father she deserved. And who knew? Maybe, without that night, he would have lost her, too. Maybe she wouldn't have left him, or died, but he wouldn't understand her. He would have lost her companionship, if not her whole self.

But she was getting on, like he was. Every day was a challenge, and it hurt to wake up in the morning. He sometimes thought he was alone, but then he'd remember he still had Nat, and she was more than enough to get him through the day. He worked hard and could go a few hours at a time- sometimes even days- without having to stop and think about that night and everything that had changed since then. But on nights when she went out with Henry and Dan was left alone, he felt the echos of the grief. The new grief.

It was one week before her seventeenth birthday, and they still hadn't talked about what she was going to do. Obviously she wasn't going to have a party- though Dan might have been absent, he did notice Natalie's lack of a large group of friends. But maybe she wanted something special? It was hard to say, but he wanted to make her happy.

"Hey Nat?" he asked her one day after school. "You're turning seventeen soon... any plans? Anything special you want?"

She looked up from her schoolbooks and thought for a minute. At first she shook her head. "No, nothing special..." but then she seemed to reconsider. "Yes. Actually, can we have a family dinner? I know it sounds not special at all- but just a normal night? Just a cake, singing, and us? And no talk about anything that's, um... not here? I just want a normal birthday for once."

Dan smiled. "That sounds... great, Natalie. Just us?"

She hesitated. "Well, I kind of want to invite Henry- nobody else though. I don't want anything big. But after all that he's done-"

"That's perfect," Dan said, smiling wider. Remembering all the disastrous birthday parties in the past- mostly hers, though how could he forget Gabe's birthday celebration of last winter?- this sounded so healthy. "So... chocolate or vanilla cake?"

* * *

**Sixteen Months Later**

The day had finally come- he'd dreaded it ever since Diana left. It had been looming in the back of his mind, threatening him with the pain it would bring.

It was the day Natalie was leaving for school.

He was happy for her like a dad always is supposed to be- really, how could he not be? She got into Yale with scholarships- her dream school, and a wonderful one at that! But... now what would he do? He was saying goodbye to his daughter and the person who'd kept him sane for the last few years.

She'd already bid farewell to everyone before they left town- which mainly included Henry, who she'd see frequently anyway in school, so there was no really heart wrenching goodbyes. God knows how she'd been longing to turn her back on high school! This was an improvement for her, and she could only go up from where she was.

Dan couldn't wait to hear about it all. He wanted her to call and tell him everything she was doing, who she met, what her classes were like, everything. He knew she'd succeed. She'd be wonderful, bright, and most importantly, free- everything she always wanted to be. She always was, but this change of scenery was good for her.

As for how Natalie thought about this, she couldn't be more excited. They jam-packed the car with everything she'd need and began driving, Natalie reading and rereading her schedules and maps the whole time, wondering things aloud, stuttering off bits of trivia about Yale and so forth. She was a little nervous, but it was nothing to how he felt.

How could he go home to an empty house? How could he face the loneliness? He was alone. Natalie- though she'd be back, and they'd keep in touch- would never be completely his anymore. She never really was. But now she was an adult, essentially living on her own... she didn't need him anymore, except to pay the bills. What was he to do?

All too soon, they'd arrived, unpacked everything from the car, brought it into her dorm, met her roommate, RAs, found her buildings for her classes, gone to all the freshman meetings...

"Dad?" Natalie said as it grew late. "I think I'm ok. I don't know that you need to come back tomorrow."

He stilled for a minute. "What?" _She doesn't need you._"Oh. Oh, ok, sweetheart. As long as you're ok."

"Oh, Dad," Natalie said, hugging him. "I'm going to be ok. The question is, are you?"

He didn't answer. She gave him her best "grin-and-bear-it" face, and slapped him on the back. "You'll be fine, Dad. You're strong."

Was he?

"I love you, Natalie. Call if you need anything- anything at all- it's only a two hour drive and I'm happy to come back."

"I know, Dad- I promise I'll call. I'll call you tomorrow just because, ok?"

Finally, after goodbyes and hugs, they parted, and he returned to his car alone.

* * *

**One Month Afterwards**

Dan got home from work and turned on the lights to the house. The house was too big for him, he knew. He went upstairs to change out of his work clothes, and saw the familiar picture frames on the dresser. Di had taken all of the ones that were special to her, but there were a few that he wouldn't have chosen to keep there. Some of her things still lingered here and there, though she'd come long ago to retrieve them.

There were three bedrooms, one of which was occupied. Or half-occupied- it was meant for two people. He had three bathrooms- why did he need that?

He walked through the house, looking at everything. He saw the scuff on the floor from where the music box had broken, scarring the wood. He saw the rug up on the landing where Natalie had slipped and fallen down the stairs, breaking her arm. As he wandered into the basement, he found photo albums, especially the one he didn't want to see. "Gabe," the words on the front read.

He saw memorabilia from his and Di's marriage- memories that had once assured him everything would be fine, and now just enforced the fact that she was gone. He saw little signs of Natalie growing up- pictures she'd drawn in kindergarten, clay pots she'd made in middle school... The dress she wore to that dance Junior year hung in her closet.

Dan picked it off the hanger, looking at the blue fabric, the small sparkles on the skirt. She looked very nice in this dress. When he thought of Natalie going to that dance, he realized something good had come of that night. For the first time in weeks, she'd made an effort to look pretty and go do something fun, and non-threatening. It was really the beginning of her recovery.

But the memories still stung- they were _everywhere._

"Out- I need to get out of here," he said to the empty house. Empty. He lived there, true, but was it his home? No. It hadn't been for a long time, and now that Natalie was gone, there was no need to stay.

He'd find a new place to live- nearby, but not too close. He'd start a new chapter of his life, and, with a little luck, heal.

* * *

**Please tell me how you liked this story as a whole! Please review! It is complete now... :)**


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